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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.

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427 Squadron Crest
24/25.03.1944 No. 427 Squadron Halifax III LW577 ZL-K Fl/Sgt. Stanley G. Dowdell

Operation: Berlin

Date: 24/25th March 1944 (Friday/Saturday)

Unit: No. 427 Squadron 

Type: Halifax MkIII 

Serial No: LW577

Code: ZL-K

Base: RAF Leeming, Yorkshire

Location: Ahlen, Germany

Pilot: Fl/Sgt. Stanley Geddes Dowdell J/85604 RCAF Age 21. Killed 

Fl/Eng: Sgt. J. Nescom 1590417 RAF PoW Nr. 4015 Camp: Stalag Luft Barth Vogelsang

Nav: F/O. George Ian MacKay J/22602 Age 24 RCAF Killed

Air/Bmr: F/O. Olavi Leonard Jackson J/25847 RCAF Age 21. Killed 

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Harry Cyril Webb 1578041 RAF Age 21. Killed  

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Edwin Joseph Halbert J/88712 RCAF Age 18. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Leonard Joseph Lozo  R/190666 RCAF PoW Nr. 4003 Camp: Stalag Luft Barth Vogelsang

REASON FOR LOSS: 

Take-off 18.45 Hrs. One of 3 aircraft lost on this raid from 427 Squadron. This aircraft LW577 was on its home run when it was probably shot down by flak, crashing in the vicinity of Ahlen, a town N.E. of the Ruhr, straddling the River Werse Germany.

L to R : P/O. Dowdell, P/O. MacKay, F/O. Jackson, Sgt. Webb, Sgt. Nesom, P/O. Halbert, Sgt. Lozo (courtesy Michel Beckers)

Burial Details:

F/O. Mackay RCAF and F/O. Jackson RCAF, were buried 29th March 1944 at Ahlen. It is reported that the others killed were buried at Werne 25th March 1944. Their graves are now located, all together, at the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. 

Fl/Sgt. (Later P/O.) Stanley Geddes Dowdell. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Grave 31.F.3. Son of Fred W. and Edith M. Dowdell, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

F/O.  George Ian MacKay. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Grave 31.F.4. Son of John Alexander Mackay and Janet Sarah Mackay, of Port Nelson, Ontario, Canada.

F/O. Olavi Leonard Jackson. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Grave 31.F.2, From Haney, British Columbia, Canada. No other details, are you able to assist?

Sgt. Harry Cyril Webb. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Grave 31.F.6. Son of Howard Albert and Mary Adalaide Webb, of Vauxhall, Warwickshire.

Sgt. (Later P/O.) Edwin Joseph Halbert. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Grave 31.F.5. Son of John Arthur and Martha Halbert, of Thornton, Ontario, Canada.

Researched by Michel Beckers 427 Historical Unit for Aircrew Remembered in remembrance of the crew lost.

Acknowledgements: Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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